Pages

Thursday, March 22, 2012

History has a way of repeating itself: hard to believe nowadays but less has not always been more.

~by guest writer AlbertCAN

Sometimes only more is more. The French Rococo period, for one, and so was the 80s. It is hardly surprising then that Jardins de Bagatelle, Guerlain’s tribute to the grand frivolity of a French imperial pursuit, was introduced in 1983.

Nearly thirty years later I have seldom heard the tale told in its entirety. Perhaps because of the typical Guerlain complexity in its inspiration? Or perhaps its somewhat awkward placement within the Guerlain archive, tucked between the fabled Chamade (1969), Parure (1975), Nahéma (1979) and Samsara (1989)? Either case the story is far too fascinating to be left ignored.

Bagatelle: A Brief Trifle History

Jean-Paul Guerlain’s inspiration came from the garden found within the Château de Bagatelle, an eighteenth-century gem tucked within the Bois de Boulogne, in the XVIe arrondissement of Paris . Don’t be fooled by the name Bagatelle: this estate is not name after an illustrious personality; quite the opposite. In fact, it is a term most frivolous in nature, from the Italian bagattella and reserved to describe a thing of little importance, a mere trifle!

Everything started with a bet: In 1775 the the Comte d'Artois purchased the property with the intention of an overhaul; his sister-in-law, Marie Antoinette, perhaps out of sheer boredom, wagered that the new château could not possibly be completed within one hundred days. She was proven wrong: the Comte engaged the neoclassical architect François-Joseph Bélanger to design and had the whole thing all to himself in mere sixty-three days. That’s not to say that the architect skimped on luxury in order to hasten the completion—in true Rococo fashion the garden immediately surrounding the Château de Bagatelle is famously redolent of heady florals, as attested by the rambling roses blooming in profusion within the opening photo. And that’s a mere corner of the château.

But there’s more: according to MONSIEURGUERLAIN the blog, the venerable house further revealed that the rhythm of the fragrance was inspired by Goyescas, written by Spanish composer Enrique Granados. Now without knowing which of the six Guerlain was referring to I shall persent my personal favorite, and the most famous of them all, is “Quejas, o la maja y el ruiseñor” (The Maiden and the Nightingale), played here by Jorge Luis Prats.

Now in this context the second usage of the word ‘bagatelle’ is also utilized, describing here a short piece of music, typically for the piano, and usually of a light, mellow character. The name here serves as a reference to the innocent character of the piece (not necessarily, of course, the lack of technical and artistic demands of the music, as many piano students fall out one way for another upon learning the music).

Jardins de Bagatelle: The Guerlain Twist

Given its heady égeries one shouldn’t expect less from Jardins de Bagatelle, referred by some as the scent of the whole garden bottled! In fact it is precisely this fact that yours truly prefers the eau de toilette incarnation, and then only in light application!

The exercise in diffusion starts with violet and classic aldehydes, finessed by citruses such as lemon and bergamot. Then lo and behold, true to the Goyescas style, a barrage of white florals flies across: gardenia, rose, orange blossom, tuberose, magnolia, ylang ylang, orchid, lily-of-the-valley, narcissus, not to mention tuberose, the queen of narcotic floral (and one of Marie Antoinette’s favourites). At the hands of a perfumer with less calibre all this would surely spell disaster, yet the suppleness of the Guerlinade accord really pulls through and keeps the whole flock flying in formation, especially with the help of base notes consisting of cedarwood, musk, patchouli, tonka bean and vetiver. Translation: never meant for the faint hearted. Now some valued Guerlain clients are not used to such blunt development, though overall I’m not too troubled by it once dialing down the overall volume; some might turn blue with a bombastic woodsy-floral from the 80s, but personally the sillage is, in my humble opinion, enjoyable at an extremely deft hand. Testament to its prowess I have never seen a parfum edition for Jardins de Bagatelle;the eau de parfum was always meant to be the most concentrated version of this pillar.

As for the bottle designer Robert Granai interpreted the shoulder emphasis of the 80s with savoir-faire by folding the motif into classic Guerlain bottle aesthetics. Honestly it’s one of my favourite bottles from Guerlain: clean, to the point, but essentially romantic at heart.

Photos, from top: Jardins de Bagatelle rose trellis from Paris the blog; Château de Bagatelle from Wiki; portrait of Comte d'Artois from Wiki; portrait of Marie Antoinette from Wiki; Guerlain Jardins de Bagatelle advertisement from the 80s, via CouleurParfum.

12 comments:

I'm loving these appreciations of my favourite Guerlain scents! For me, Jardins de Bagatelle has always been the quintessential summer holiday scent - big, bold and beautiful. I've worn it since the day it came out and I still love it, although I do prefer the eau de parfum. What a pity it never appeared in extrait.

I think my local department store has this so I will stop by tonight for a sniff. I think I might have tried it once and found it too lush, but my tastes have chanded a bit. Does JdB resemble EL's Beautiful do you think, in character at least?

At the moment I am enjoying another French garden inspired fragrance, Parfum dEmpire's Eau Suave.

I think the Lauder is actually louder. Funny considering JdB is among the louder Guerlains. That's what the passage of time does to one's perception, possibly. I hope the current batch isn't too bad. In the 1980s it was quite good. Then LVMH took over.:/Enjoy Eau Suave, so spring-like!

JdB was one of the first Guerlains presented to me for my consideration. I passed it over for Chamade as my first Guerlain purchas - Well - can't really blame me for that.... The SA gave me a generous vial of the edt as part of my GWP which I love to revisit from time to time and I acquired 2 additional mini edps in a mixed coffret from ~'97, still free of LVMH influence.

This fragrance is one of my favorite summer dress accessories. Thanks for filling in the story!

Snap Helg! I am wearing it today as its rather cold here and I have the EDP and is not for the heat (well, for me its not ) LOL

I have been lucky to visit the Bagatelle gardens in Paris a couple of times and they are just beautiful - especially at rose time - its the best !Now , Guerlains Jardin de Bagatelle is tuberose and that garden is mainly roses (divine roses and they do have a rose competition every year too for the prof. breeders !) plus - I have been there when the iris are out - for they have this pretty garden room with all the different types of iris there too. Its a Must Go if you visit Paris but pick a sunny day in spring or summer for the roses . You cannot go inside the little Bagatelle but its such a pretty , pretty building!

I always thought it was done a disservice from a well known critic for being a bit less "patisserie" or "romantic" than usual Guerlain fare. In hindsight, it's among the loveliest in this generally thankless genre (i.e. metallic florals). I too find it eminently summer worthy! Enjoy!!

I know how it couldn't possibly be considered fine to wear EDP in the intense heat you get there. I wouldn't wear it in summer here either. It might become suffocating.

As to the garden, yeah, rose trellises everywhere (and one featured prominently on top of the review), but the Guerlain is mostly about the tuberose! Funny!I should make it a point of visiting the actual garden though next time, it sounds delightful for a peaceful stroll in warm weather. (There are just so many things to see while in Paris, aren't they?)

Her writing has been twice shortlisted in the FIFI Editorial Excellence Awards, is extensively quoted by authors, she regularly writes for top fragrance webzine Fragrantica.com and is an evaluating expert on Osmoz.com. Interviews of the author regarding her status as perfume historian & writer appear in VOGUE Hellas, ICON Magazine and Queen.gr

Perfume Shrine is an award winning blog of 1000s of fragrance reviews (modern, niche, classic, vintage), articles on perfume history and aroma materials, comparisons of scents, interviews with perfumers & the fragrance industry, perfume shopping as well as scented travel memoirs, fine cuisine, tips on building a fragrance wardrobe and musings about the pleasures of the senses.